Braves rally as Andruw homers in 3rd straight game

They hit consecutive homers off Chad Cordero with two outs in
the ninth inning Sunday to give Atlanta a 9-7 victory over
Washington, which had rallied with a five-run eighth after John
Smoltz left with tightness in his pitching shoulder.

For Andruw Jones, it was his second homer of the game and 49th
of the season. He broke the franchise record of 47 shared by Hall
of Famers Hank Aaron (1971) and Eddie Mathews (1953).

"All these records -- I already proved what I can do this
season. I just want to get it done, help my team, and get back into
the World Series," Andruw Jones said. "There was a bit of
frustration, but we came out on top, and that's what really
matters."

Chipper Jones' two-run shot off Cordero (2-4) erased a 7-6
deficit for Atlanta -- which led 6-2 heading into the bottom of the
eighth. Andruw Jones followed by driving an 0-2 pitch to left.

Both came on fastballs, the pitch Cordero has ridden to a
franchise-record 44 saves.

"All the guys went out there today and battled all day, and I
throw one inning and I blow it," Cordero said. "I just want to
throw stuff. I'm just upset."

Church was among the rookies trying to handle Smoltz, along with
a player making his first major league start (second baseman Rick
Short) and one making his second (third baseman Ryan Zimmerman).

Atlanta has had a revolving door at closer, and its bullpen
showed how shaky it can be in the first game of this series, when
Washington scored four in the eighth to win.

On Sunday, with the Braves ahead 6-2, Blaine Boyer began the
eighth by walking the first two batters. John Foster came on and
gave up Brad Wilkerson's RBI single, then hit Short with a pitch
that bounced in the dirt first.

Said Braves manager Bobby Cox: "You can't do that late in the
ballgame."

Nick Johnson hit a hard shot that bounced off the side of first
baseman Adam LaRoche's head for a two-run single to get Washington
within a run. LaRoche was dizzy and left the game, but said he
expects to be able to play Monday.

So Foster was replaced by Chris Reitsma. Jose Guillen flied out
to deep center, which allowed Short to reach third. Church then hit
a sacrifice fly to left, which got Johnson -- out of the starting
lineup for a week because of a bruised right heel -- to second.

Zimmerman, the No. 4 overall pick in June's amateur draft, lined
a 1-2 pitch over the shortstop's head to score a hobbling Johnson
with the go-ahead run.

Julio Franco led off Atlanta's ninth with a single and, after
two flyouts, Chipper Jones came to the plate, figuring he might see
a pitch to hit because of the player in the on-deck circle: Andruw
Jones.

"I get the benefit from him having a monster year," Chipper
Jones said. "He's pretty much killed them in every series and he's
the last guy that they want to have at the plate with the game on
the line."

The Braves built their 6-0 lead against a patchwork
starter-by-committee operation. First on the mound for Washington
was rookie Jason Bergmann, making his first major league start, and
he gave up two runs in the first.

Andruw Jones made it 3-0 in the third with his 48th homer, off
Travis Hughes.

"He's totally a star now," Cox said about his cleanup hitter.
"Andruw is putting a lot of guys in his shadow right now."

Game notes

Smoltz allowed back-to-back homers by Short and Johnson in
the sixth, and Zimmerman's ground-rule double in the second. His
five strikeouts gave him 2,556 for his career, tying Jerry Koosman
for 24th place in baseball history. ... Braves SS Rafael Furcal
stole his 40th base.